Letter From An Actor Two
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| Letter From An Actor Two |
Letter From An Actor- II
29 Bowes Road,
Hampstcad,
London N.w.3
October 29th 1958
Dear Sir,
I understand* that you are forming a new theatrical company to play in repertory at the Webster Theatre beginning in January next . I should be very grateful if you would consider giving me an audition for a place in that company.
Might I briefly outline my qualifications and experience?
You will not be interested in my juvenile experience, but perhaps I might mention that my father was ell-known on the stage as Bertrand Berkeley, and that as a schoolboy, playing Macbeth in a school production, I got mentions in two of the London evening newspapers.
At the age of seventeen I won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. I studied there under the direct tuition of the Principal, and won three medals in the course of my three years there --- one for verse-speaking, and two for the best performance in a leading role' in two successive years.
My first professional engagement was with the Attic touring company, with whom I played in a number of popular comedies* and thrillers in the North and West of England. I was with them for eighteen months. Thereafter I had a series of small parts in London productions, the most important of which was fagin in a dramatic adaptation of ʿ Oliver Twist ʿ, at the New Theatre.
I base my application mainly, however, on my work since then: namely the leading male role, if I may say so,* Boanerges, in the recent revival of Shaw's ʾ The Apple Cart ʾ and, most recently,* leading roles in repertory at Windsor. I might add that in three successive weeks there I played the major role of a ghost in a popular comedy-bloodcurdler, the murderer in ʿ Rope ʿ, and the deceived husband in a French farce.
I very much hope that I may have the opportunity of presenting myself for an audition, and that you will find my abilities to your liking,* for I feel confident that in the kind of repertory you plan to perform at the Webster Theatre, I should prove to have the adaptability* you require.
Yours faithfully.
Gerald Crane